See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

1 John3:1-3

God’s great and glorious love produces results in us that can only really be seen or understood by divine revelation.

We’ll do a little word study today. The Greek word (potapos) translated here as “what kind” is also translated as “how great” and “glorious” according to Bauer, Arndt, & Gingrich’s A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament. So, the Father’s love is of a particular kind, is a great love, and I believe the context warrants the adjective a glorious love.

Before I expound on why I believe glorious is an appropriate adjective, let’s note that the Father’s love produces a particular result; we are called children of God. This is a present-tense reality, so we are right now, not in some future epoch. It s important to the flow of thought in this section of John’s letter that we know that it is present tense because he will shortly reference what is future.

What will be in the future has not yet appeared or been revealed. In ther words, we have a future that we don’t yet. “The word phanero (appeared or revealed) occurs nine times in 1 John (1:2 [2X]; 2:19, 28; 3:2 [2X], 5, 8; 4:9). While it can mean simply “to be evident or manifest,” as in 2:1” (cf. John 3:21; 7:4), it more often suggests divine revelatory activity apart from which a truth would not be redemptively appropriated and perhaps not even seen.” 2

I want to share some of my thoughts on one of the symbols in the description of the New Jerusalem. That is the use of gold. Many of the utensils used in Old Testament temple worship were either made of gold or were plated with gold. Solomon’s temple “ made abundant u”e of gold in covering the walls of the holy of holies. This picture of the beauty and value of worship is carried through the Biblical story to the end of Revelation. This theme begins in the garden, the dwelling place of God with man. In the garden were many of the jewels that adorned the New Jerusalem and were used in the garments of the High Priest. (Ezekiel 28:13; Exodus 2:11-12; 39:8-14)

Refined gold speaks of purity. Jesus commands the church of Laodicea to “buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich.” (Revelation n 3:18). The New Jerusalem, the church, is made of pure gold refined to the degree that it is transparent, clear as glass.

I believe this symbol of refined gold gives us a picture to indicate the purity we will possess as glorified saints of God. We are so conscious of our weaknesses, failings, and lack of purity, but the day will come when we see him as he is that we too will be glorified as he is. Then, we will no longer be plagued by weakness, failure, and impurity. We will be so pure as to be as gold transparent and clear as glass.

Today, the Father’s love has called us children of God. On that day, we will see Jesus face to face, and we will be like him, fully glorified.

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Romans 8:30

Our recognition of the hope that lies before us of being glorified just as he is glorified is our motivation to pursue holiness now. Preachers in this present day are often speaking of pursuing our destiny or fulfilling our destiny. Their view, however, is way too short-sighted. They appeal to our human drive for success and significance. Our real destiny as followers of Jesus is to be glorified as he is glorified. We are too easily satisfied. Let us lift our eyes to that day when we see him face to face and become fully like him as glorified saints. Today, due to the glorious love of God, we are children of God; what we will be has not yet appeared. We will be glorified. The beauty of New Jerusalem, with all of its gold and jewels, is a picture of what we will be.

Footnotes

  2. “…what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is.” We are now, present tense, children of God, but there is a glorious future that takes us beyond that. John doesn’t describe what that more glorious future will be like other than to say we will be like Jesus because we will see him as he is.

    John takes us forward to that day when we shall see him in his glorious second coming. We are in the future. Jesus has been in his glorified state since his resurrection and ascension. John gives us a glimpse in the book of Revelation of what we will be like after seeing Jesus.

     Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
    15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

    Revelation 21:9-21

    The church is Christ’s Bride (Ephesians 5:25-32). Every born-again believer is a member of Christ’s body, like an eye or ear. (1 Corinthians 22:27). New Jerusalem is introduced in Revelation 21 as “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” The next reference to the Bride is in verse 9, where the angel says, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” The next action is John being taken up in a great high mountain and shown the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. Then follows a fairly detailed description of the New Jerusalem. I believe I have laid out a simple but compelling argument that the New Jerusalem that the angel showed John is, in fact, a symbolic representation of the Bride of Christ, the church, consisting of the members of the body, you and me.1Beale, G.K., The New International Greek New Testament Commentary, Revelation, p. 1045.